Executive Council

Matt Rose

Chairman, Read Fort Worth

Chairman Matt Rose

Matt Rose is chairman of Read Fort Worth and executive chairman of BNSF Railway Co. He served 13 years as BNSF chief executive officer and 11 years as chairman. BNSF became a Berkshire Hathaway-owned company in 2010.

Mr. Rose serves on the Board of Directors of AT&T and Fluor Corp and on the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Texas Christian University. He also serves as Chair of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank Board of Directors.

Betsy Price

Mayor, City of Fort Worth

Mayor Betsy Price

Betsy Price, a Fort Worth native, was elected in 2011 as the 44th mayor of the City of Fort Worth. In 2015, Price ran unopposed and was re-elected to a third two-year term. As the 16th largest city in the United States, Fort Worth remains one of the fastest growing large cities in the country.

Along with her focus on promoting jobs, strengthening education, fighting crime and improving mobility, Price has made significant strides along the path toward her vision of a healthy, engaged, educated and fiscally responsible city.

Dr. Kent P. Scribner

Superintendent, Fort Worth ISD

Dr. Kent Paredes Scribner

Dr. Kent Paredes Scribner is superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District, serving more than 87,000 students and 11,000 employees.

During his tenure Dr. Scribner has reduced executive administration and other central office positions to better support teachers and students by redirecting those resources to schools. He’s placed a renewed emphasis on universal pre-kindergarten, broken ground for the I. M. Terrell Academy for STEM and Visual and Performing Arts, and begun implementation of FWISD Leadership Academies at five underperforming District campuses.

Dr. Scribner introduced 100X25FWTX, an early literacy goal for the District to have 100 percent of third-graders reading at grade level by the year 2025.

Dr. Scribner began his career in education in Philadelphia, then became a principal and district administrator prior to serving as a superintendent in Phoenix for 13 years. He earned his BA from Carleton College, Master’s of Education from Temple University, and Ph.D. from Arizona State University.

Together, he and his wife Suleyka have four children.

Teresa Ayala

Trustee, Tarrant County College District

Teresa Ayala

Mrs. Teresa Marie Ayala was elected to the Tarrant County College District Board as a Trustee in May 2015. The Board oversees a $400M budget and approximately $1B in assets. She brings to her role vast professional experience working in top 25 Fortune companies, mentoring and managing employees throughout the US, Mexico, Canada, South America and Asia. She also served as a substitute teacher in the FWISD. She currently works as a contracts subject matter expert in the healthcare industry.

In 2016 Ayala was recognized as a Great Woman of Texas, for her significant contributions in business, civic, social and for her dedication to family and her community. Ayala has volunteered with several youth organizations and has served on the City of Fort Worth Parks and Recreation Advisory, the Commission for Women Boards and the Community Development Council. She has also worked closely with the Rotary, HWNT, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and North Texas Area Community Health Center (NTACHC).

Mrs. Ayala attended Tarrant County College and Texas Christian University where she earned her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Liberal Arts.

Dionne Bagsby

Former Commissioner, Tarrant County

Ms. Dionne Bagsby

Dionne Phillips Bagsby, retired Tarrant County Commissioner, is a long-term Fort Worth resident who has demonstrated leadership through extensive community involvement. An Educator by training and avocation, Mrs. Bagsby was the first woman and first minority elected as a member of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court.

Deeply committed to improving life for all people in need, Mrs. Bagsby continues to be a strong advocate particularly for women and children. She was one of the pioneer educators that worked for peaceful integration of Fort Worth Independent School District. Mrs. Bagsby advocated for early childhood education, and was one of the first Speech Pathologist to work with children as early as age three at their home public school.

Mrs. Bagsby holds an undergraduate degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, Speech/Pathology Certification from George Peabody College for Teachers, a Master’s degree from Texas Christian University and is also an alumnus of Leadership Fort Worth.

Elizabeth Brands

The Morris Foundation

Elizabeth joined The Morris Foundation in July 2017 to lead the Foundation’s education giving strategy.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Elizabeth worked in Tulsa, Okla. where she lead Reading Partners, a national early-literacy nonprofit focused on increasing the number of third-grade students who are reading on grade-level. During her tenure, Elizabeth developed strategic partnerships with local municipalities, school districts, donors, community partners, and stakeholders to grow the Tulsa region into the largest of Reading Partners’ fourteen national locations while simultaneously producing impressive outcomes for students.

Elizabeth worked at the Tulsa Community Foundation where she collaborated with diverse groups of local, state and regional stakeholders to develop and implement strategic, systems-level change. In this role, she managed relationships between foundations, city officials, community leaders, volunteers and donors and maintained compliance and oversight of approximately 400 individual and corporate charitable funds.

Elizabeth began her career as a classroom teacher where she taught 5th grade and middle school language arts. Elizabeth earned her doctoral degree in Educational Administration, Curriculum, and Supervision.

Kevin Buehler

Retired CEO, Alcon Laboratories

Mr. Kevin Buehler

Kevin Buehler retired from Alcon Laboratories, a division of Novartis, after 30 years of service. During his career horizon, the sales revenue for Alcon Laboratories increased from roughly $300 million in 1984, to over $11 billion in 2013.

Since the merger of Alcon into Novartis in April 2011, he served as the division head for the Alcon business and as a member of the executive committee of Novartis. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Buehler was President and Chief Executive Officer of Alcon Laboratories and served on the public company board of directors.

Mr. Buehler holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Carroll University with concentrations in business administration and political science. He completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard business school in 1993.

Mr. Buehler currently participates on the following boards: Acelity (private equity owned wound care company), United Way of Tarrant County, and Carroll University.

Loretta Burns

Executive Director, AB Christian Learning Center

Mrs. Loretta Burns

Loretta Burns is founder and Executive Director of AB Christian Learning since 2006. She is responsible for the day to day operations, and development of policies and procedures for the organization. She is also the founder and chairperson of the "Power of 7", a community based parent engagement initiative.

Ms. Burns serves as chairperson for Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies, Healthy Community. She also serves on the Parent Engagement Team for Fort Worth’s Early Learning Alliance, and on the Board of Directors for East Fort Worth Montessori.

She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington where she received a Bachelor’s in Management and a Master's in Interdisciplinary Studies. She believes that increased parent involvement improves academic outcomes for all students.

Grant Coates

President & CEO, The Miles Foundation

Mr. Grant Coates

Grant Coates is Chief Executive Officer and President of The Miles Foundation.

In 2001, Mr. Coates joined Miles Production Company, Ellison Miles’ predecessor oil and gas business. Mr. Coates served in various financial roles for Miles Production Company and, subsequently, for The Miles Foundation, for three years.

In 2009, Mr. Coates was elected to the Board of Directors of The Miles Foundation, and in 2011, he was named President. In this role, Mr. Coates is responsible for the general management of the Foundation, including the oversight of the grant submission and selection process, as well as the stewardship of the Foundation’s investments.

Mr. Coates takes great pride in the positive change The Miles Foundation continues to achieve for local communities through its grant projects and partners.

Mr. Coates earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of North Texas, and an MBA from Texas Christian University. Mr. Coates currently resides in Fort Worth, Texas.

James C. Estill

CEO, Calloway's Nursery (Retired)

Mr. James C. Estill

Mr. James C. Estill retired as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Calloway’s Nursery, Inc. in 2016. Along with John Cosby, John Peters, Mr. Estill co-founded Calloway’s in 1986.

Before founding Calloway’s, Mr. Estill served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sunbelt Nursery Group, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Estill served as Director of Real Estate for Pier 1 Imports, Inc.

Mr. Estill received his BBA in Management from Texas Christian University in 1969 and his MBA in finance from TCU in 1977.

Mr. Estill is a Texas Master Certified Nursery Professional (TMCNP) and is Past Chairman of the Certification Committee for the Texas Nursery & Landscape association (TNLA). In 2012, the TNLA bestowed on Mr. Estill the Arp Award and in 2016 TNLA bestowed a Life Time Membership on Mr. Estill.

He remains active in his family and in the community. He is an officer and a member of the Board of Directors of the Lena Pope Home and is active in his local church. He and his wife, Sharon, of 48 years have three daughters and nine grandchildren.

Merrill has vast experience in for-profit and not-for-profit health care facilities and serves on numerous national, state and community advisory boards.

A native of South Texas, Merrill received a Bachelor of Science from Texas Tech and a Master of Science in Health Care Administration from Trinity University.

Merrill is married and has two daughters.

Jeremy Smith

Executive Director and Co-President, Rainwater Charitable Foundation

Jeremy Smith

Jeremy Smith currently serves as Co-President and Executive Director of the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. Smith joined the Rainwater Charitable Foundation in April of 2009 and assumed the role of Executive Director in 2011. He directs the foundation’s giving in the areas of K-12 education, medical research and education-related gifts in India and East Africa.

Prior to joining the Rainwater team, Smith worked in management consulting for four years, first with McKinsey & Company and later as an Associate Director with DenuoSource LLC. Prior to McKinsey, he worked in operations research at Merck & Co.

Fluent in Spanish and proficient in Chinese, Smith is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Divinity School. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arkansas with a BS in engineering. During college he spent one year teaching in an elementary classroom and received a District Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. Smith also currently serves as a board member at Reading Partners, Dallas Zero to Five Funders Collaborative, TFA DFW Board of Advisors, and First Three Years.